


don't go (somewhere I cannot fly to)

by SeeMeInTheShadows



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Gen, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, implied non-canonical character death, mentions of dragons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 00:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17735225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeeMeInTheShadows/pseuds/SeeMeInTheShadows
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, after the adrenaline wears off, Charlie does what he's always done: climb up to the highest point he can and try to forget. Pretend everything is alright- that Fred and Tonks and everyone else will wake up tomorrow, pretend that this hole in his heart will heal.It takes help from some old friends to ground him again.





	don't go (somewhere I cannot fly to)

His best friend used to punch him in the arm lightly and grin. “You were born the wrong creature, Charlie. You should have been a dragon!” Standing here, at the top of the astronomy tower, he wished he had been. Everything looked so much smaller and in the distance he could see the mountains that surrounded the school. A cool wind blew across his face and for a second he closed his eyes and pretended he was soaring through the skies.

One steamy spring afternoon they had been lounging around the courtyard, playing gobstones and talking about his family. Mum had just sent a letter, despairing at the havoc the twins had caused and gushing over Ginny, and his friend had hungrily listened to him, as always. She would laugh at the twins’ chaos and coo over Ginny and even offer him advice for how to get Ron out of his shell. He would joke about making her an official Weasley and her smile would grow huge. When Jacob had left, her family had fractured in a way that Charlie knew he couldn’t understand. And maybe that is why she had crusaded around Hogwarts, collecting friends as easily as his dad collected lightbulbs.

When Charlie had turned eleven, the night before he was set to board the Hogwarts express he had quietly talked to Bill in the night. And Bill had said that Hogwarts was different than the Burrow- a lot more people but far easier to feel lost in the crowd. And maybe that is why she had gathered a group and made a family- one just as tight as the Weasleys. 

That spring day, Andre had walked through the courtyard as she had cracked the joke for the millionth time and he had smiled at her and then turned to Charlie. “The Curse Breaker is right,” he said to him. “When you fly, it’s…something different. You could be a dragon.”

He smiled but went back to the Gobstone games. He liked flying, he liked being up high. He would go on expeditions to all the towers at Hogwarts with Tulip and Tonks as they were determined to break as many rules as possible. That was how he discovered this spot, at the top of the astronomy tower. His favorite thinking spot. He used to come here and try to see if he could spot dragons in the distance.

Sometimes she would join him and they would sit in silence. There would be a sadness to her but he wouldn’t ask about it. 

He understood that now. Floors below him, Fred’s body still laid on the cold floor of the Great Hall. Not far away from him was Tonks, and probably a dozen other people he had known. He had come up here to feel the wind on his face and maybe get as far away from the tragedy as he could. He wished he could just fly away.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his. Penny Haywood would always be beautiful, and that was the same even now. Her hair was matted with sweat and dirt and blood and her shirt was stained with various colors from potions she had been frantically mixing. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were splotched.

“I heard about Fred,” she choked. “I’m so sorry.” A pause, and then: “B-Bea also. She…uh…she wanted to help, you know. She’s always wanted to follow in our footsteps and it’s always gotten her in trouble.” Penny’s laugh was strangled and her hand was squeezing Charlie’s so tight he wasn’t sure he’d be able to use it, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was squeezing hers back just as much. 

He turned to wrap her in a hug and saw that Barnaby Lee was standing behind them. He must have come up with Penny. He wasn’t looking at them, but instead staring at a nest that an owl had made up here. It was obvious that he had been crying too.

Charlie quickly pressed a kiss into the top of Penny’s head and then went to hug the other boy. Even as Barnaby accepted the hug, he didn’t stop looking at the owlets. “Tonks…” he choked out and beside them Penny gave another sob.

Barnaby clenched his fist. “I hate death eaters,” he spat. “I hate Voldemort.”

He kicked a stone off the tower. Several seconds later they could hear as hit the ground. Deflating, Barnaby walked over to the edge of the tower and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge. Charlie and Penny joined them, and the three friends sat in silence. 

Penny’s hand had taken back its position in his, and her other was wrapped in Barnaby’s. Penny continued to sniff, and would occasionally break into silent, heaving sobs. When this happened, Barnaby released her hand and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in close. 

After a long while, Barnaby broke the silence and whispered, “I miss her so much.”

This set another round of sobs off for Penny and Charlie felt his eyes water. Before he had lost Fred, before Penny had lost Bea, they had all lost her. She hadn’t been surprised when Voldemort came back- she had believed Harry (or at least, she admitted, she couldn’t bring herself to believe Rita Skeeter- not after all the trouble that woman had caused during their school year) and she was willing to fight. When Charlie reached out, she had been immediately ready to join the order, and had dragged their old group into the fray as well. (“Just like old times,” she had said, beaming, and even though a war was coming it had made them all beam too.)

He remembered her steely face. “For a second, I thought I had come face to face with Voldemort himself Fourth Year. I’m definitely ready to take on some of his followers,” she had confided to him. 

Two months before Charlie went to Privet Drive to help Harry escape, she had gone on a mission and hadn’t come back. The news had reached them through Tonks, her face pale, and her, Charlie, and Bill had sat in the Burrow and mourned and drank until the sky was as pink as Tonks’ hair.

Charlie sighed heavily. Downstairs, the cold body of his brother lay. Family and friends and foes lay alike. Now wasn’t a time to fly away, no matter how much he may wish he could. Now was a time to gather the ones he had left up and wrap them in his arms while he still could and now was the time to rebuild. 

It was also the time to mourn. The girl who had slunk into danger at any given opportunity but would never say no to a game of gobstones, the prankster who would torment Filch and fight dark wizards but trip over her own feet, and his brother. One of the boys he would throw on his shoulder and pretend that he was, in fact, a dragon. The boy he had taught to fly but who hadn’t wanted to chase snitches. The boy who had surpassed him in pranking and charms by the time he was a first year, and who had made the Burrow that much louder and that much warmer. 

As he walked back down the stairs, he cast one more look at the sky outside. Now wasn’t the time to fly away.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having a lot of Weasley-family feels. And this is my attempt to reconcile Hogwarts Mystery with the main series. Aka these kids are grown up and fighting in the war. I'm leaving it open for the possibility of looking into these kids in their post-Hogwarts lives. Also- I'm somewhere in year five right now, so obviously things in the game may shape up to make this situation somewhat impossible. I tried to be vague though.


End file.
